quick question about PC chords...

04/07/2008 07:59:23 PM · #1

So I'm buying my first flash set up tonight. Since I have a Rebel I don't have a PC outlet so I know I have to get one of these deals:

hot shoe adapter

I'm more than likely getting a sunpack flash, if not that then a vivitar. I just need to know what kind of PC chord I need. I am confused on the whole male/female thing. Total newb at the chords because I was spoiled at work with pocket wizards (which are a breeze) but I'm too broke for them and scared to buy those cheap ebay triggers because of the mixed reviews.

Thanks!

04/07/2008 09:43:14 PM · #2

anyone?

04/07/2008 10:23:45 PM · #3

sooo... I won the flash I was after on ebay and my cart is all full on adorama with everything else I need... except the chord. Woops. An apparently I can't spell cord right. (Do I get excused because I was into music before photography?)

I guess off to try and google it. Just thought I could get a quick and simple answer here.

I'm so happppyyy!! Into the realm of lit shots! woot!

04/07/2008 10:28:19 PM · #4

The male is the sticky-out part and the female is the sticky-in part. :-) I would think you just need a standard pc sync cord, the ends of which look like this:

Edit: that's PC male to stereo plug. You'll have to find out what your flash unit wants for the other end of the cord opposite the PC male side. For example, AlienBees need a 1/8th inch stereo plug as seen here.

Message edited by author 2008-04-07 22:35:35.

04/07/2008 10:33:24 PM · #5

Originally posted by Louis:

The male is the sticky-out part and the female is the sticky-in part. :-) I would think you just need a standard pc sync cord, the ends of which look like this:

so a M/F and not an M/M? That was my only confusion cus the sync part on that adapter piece I linked too didn't look like any of the connections I had seen in the past.

04/07/2008 10:36:38 PM · #6

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by Louis:
The male is the sticky-out part and the female is the sticky-in part. :-) I would think you just need a standard pc sync cord, the ends of which look like this:

so a M/F and not an M/M? That was my only confusion cus the sync part on that adapter piece I linked too didn't look like any of the connections I had seen in the past.

You have to find out what your flash head needs. For example, the AlienBees need a 1/8th inch stereo plug opposite the PC male side. Here.

04/07/2008 10:38:19 PM · #7

Originally posted by escapetooz:

so a M/F and not an M/M? That was my only confusion cus the sync part on that adapter piece I linked too didn't look like any of the connections I had seen in the past.

The adapter looks female to me, it's just sticking out a bit. But it looks just like a female connector, just like a camera would have. Get a cord with a male PC and whatever your flash unit needs.

04/07/2008 10:40:43 PM · #8

Originally posted by Louis:

Originally posted by escapetooz:
so a M/F and not an M/M? That was my only confusion cus the sync part on that adapter piece I linked too didn't look like any of the connections I had seen in the past.

The adapter looks female to me, it's just sticking out a bit. But it looks just like a female connector, just like a camera would have. Get a cord with a male PC and whatever your flash unit needs.

The Flash

04/07/2008 11:18:48 PM · #9

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by Louis:

Originally posted by escapetooz:
so a M/F and not an M/M? That was my only confusion cus the sync part on that adapter piece I linked too didn't look like any of the connections I had seen in the past.

The adapter looks female to me, it's just sticking out a bit. But it looks just like a female connector, just like a camera would have. Get a cord with a male PC and whatever your flash unit needs.

The Flash

Hey, it says the sync cable is included.

04/07/2008 11:49:10 PM · #10

Originally posted by Louis:

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by Louis:

Originally posted by escapetooz:
so a M/F and not an M/M? That was my only confusion cus the sync part on that adapter piece I linked too didn't look like any of the connections I had seen in the past.

The adapter looks female to me, it's just sticking out a bit. But it looks just like a female connector, just like a camera would have. Get a cord with a male PC and whatever your flash unit needs.

The Flash

Hey, it says the sync cable is included.

yea but it's not long enough. I asked about what connector I would need and here is what the seller said:

"The flash comes with a standard sync cord and if you plan to use this further than about 12" from the camera you would want a sync cord extension for whatever length you require. The end at the flash side would be a female to connect to the existing cord."

I feel like such a dummy but I can't tell if he means it NEEDS a female or IS a female. I'm good with basic light elements when they are in front of me (assisted weddings and the like) but trying to piece things together over the internet that I've never used before has been hurting my brain!

thanks for trying to help me out.

04/08/2008 12:02:45 AM · #11

Oh, he's just suggesting an extension. I wouldn't bother. If you want, I can send you a standard sync cord with male PC and 1/8th stereo for free. That way you can see if what I think is a standard cord really is standard. :-)

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/08/2008 12:29:30 AM · #12

Originally posted by Louis:

lol. Well I need an extension because I'm gunna use it off camera without triggers strobist style. ;)

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

04/08/2008 02:26:40 AM · #13

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by Louis:
Oh, he's just suggesting an extension. I wouldn't bother. If you want, I can send you a standard sync cord with male PC and 1/8th stereo for free. That way you can see if what I think is a standard cord really is standard. :-)

lol. Well I need an extension because I'm gunna use it off camera without triggers strobist style. ;)

Right, but you don't want an "extension", which means you plug your 12" cord into another cord, so you have 4 connectors: flash, camera, and the 2 that connect the extension to the 12-incher. He's saying, just get ONE cord as long as you want it to be, and that's good advice, so you don't accidentally disconnect the extension from the primary in the middle of a shoot.

R.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/08/2008 10:18:37 AM · #14

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by Louis:
Oh, he's just suggesting an extension. I wouldn't bother. If you want, I can send you a standard sync cord with male PC and 1/8th stereo for free. That way you can see if what I think is a standard cord really is standard. :-)

lol. Well I need an extension because I'm gunna use it off camera without triggers strobist style. ;)

Right, but you don't want an "extension", which means you plug your 12" cord into another cord, so you have 4 connectors: flash, camera, and the 2 that connect the extension to the 12-incher. He's saying, just get ONE cord as long as you want it to be, and that's good advice, so you don't accidentally disconnect the extension from the primary in the middle of a shoot.

R.

hmmm i see. yes that makes perfect sense. that's what I wanted in the first place but then I was getting all confused! All i really wanted to know in the first place is if my stuff for sure needed a standard M/F adapter before I spend money on a cord I don't need. I saw a web site about the sunpacks taking cords that looked like the standard but weren't but it didn't mention mine so I think I'm ok. I just wanted to see if anyone knew better than me.

brownsm

Canon EOS-5D

04/08/2008 10:23:21 AM · #15

I originally started out using wires for my off-camera flashes, but have since gone wireless. It was the best thing I did. I got the Cactus V2 triggers from e-bay. they were a cheap option, and they've been working great. No issues triggering my Sigma and Nikon SB-24 flashes. If you're gonna spend money on wired connections, you might spend just a few more dollars and go wireless!

these are the ones I got from Gadget Infinity. about $35 for a receiver and transmitter pair. can buy extra receivers separately.

Cactus V2 triggers

Message edited by author 2008-04-08 10:27:43.

04/08/2008 10:31:31 AM · #16

Originally posted by brownsm:

Yea I heard from some people that they were just fine and others that there was a 1/6 misfire that they broke right away or were just incredibly unreliable so I had apprehensions about getting them. I was figuring since I'm tight on money to go with the wired version that I know will work and later get the triggers so that if they fail during a shoot I can fall back on the wired you know?

04/08/2008 11:13:56 AM · #17

so now I'm just totally confused. First I thought male to female cords were standard. Then [user]Louis[/user] says male to 1/8th stereo is standard. Then I look up standard sync cord on Adorama and it says 1/4 mono plug to pc.

The seller said "standard" cord as well. And I even found the Sunpak 444d owners manual online and couldn't find what it would be because there are different connector modules for different cameras, I guess some of which don't have a pc cord outlet but mine does.

So what really is "standard"? Or better yet I just want to know which cord I need. I don't care about semantics.

I'm about to say fudge it all and get the triggers and buy the cord at a camera store after the damn thing gets here. I just so wanted to have it all bought together and ready to go. :/ I never thought such a simple piece of the set-up would give me so much trouble...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/08/2008 11:23:35 AM · #18

also... the seller said it was a non-dedicated flash... so I'm guess that means there is no hot shoe part meaning I can't use the cactus triggers anyway unless I buy a different module for the bottom? Grrr.

brownsm

Canon EOS-5D

04/08/2008 11:42:30 AM · #19

that model flash had interchangeable hotshoes, designed for different types of cameras. hence the non-dedicated (at least that's my guess). both the picture on e-bay and a user manual I found using Google, show that hot-shoe adapter. it looks like that sync comes out of that adapter, too. the manual mentioned PC adapter, but didn't show a picture close enough to see whether it was male or female. (My Nikon flash has a female connector, so my cord has a male end.)

the cactus triggers will mount, but the gadget infinity site doesn't specifically mention the 444D flash as being compatible. so it might not work anyway, even though the flash has a hotshoe. Not sure what the trigger voltage of the flash is.

edit to add: had another thought. since those hotshoe adapters are interchangeable, I wonder if the Canon version has a trigger voltage of 12V? you might be Ok if you got the Ca-1D adapter for the flash (the hotshoe adapter designed for the old canon ae-1 series). But that's just speculation, of course. e-bay has them for around $10.

Message edited by author 2008-04-08 11:47:23.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/08/2008 12:24:57 PM · #20

Originally posted by brownsm:

Yes, you basically just summarized all of my confusion! lol. Glad I'm not just a dummy. I just went ahead and bought everything else and I'll figure it out when its in front of my face rather than bug the seller some more.

brownsm

Canon EOS-5D

04/08/2008 01:51:43 PM · #21

another corded option (the one that i went with before I got the wireless) is a pc-to-blade adapter here:

[thumb]667091[/thumb] that'll connect to the flash.

on the camera side, a hotshoe to blade connector. then all you'll need is a long cord in the middle, with female blade connectors on each end. The beauty of this system is that the female blade connector is what you'll find on a typical extension cord! i picked up 25 feet of two-wire conductor (like the kind that your lamp uses to plug into the wall), two female plug outlets, all at Home Depot. Some quick connections and you have a nice 25 foot long cord that'll connect the hotshoe of your Rebel with the PC connector of the flash. Heck, if you ask nicely, I'll even send you the one I made (minus the hotshoe connector since I had a pc connector on each end)! I don't use it anymore since I got the wireless setup.

04/08/2008 02:36:20 PM · #22

Originally posted by brownsm:

aw thanks so much for the offer! that's alright though. I'm just gunna be patient and take it to a camera store when it arrives and see how long I want the extension and all that stuff.